As structural materials for forming various structures, conventionally, metal materials and ceramic materials have been used in general because of the properties that can be obtained, such as high strength. Lately, to provide further functionalities to the metal materials and ceramic materials, composites formed with resin materials having various functionalities are used as well.
As the method for molding a structure that comprises a resin material, for instance, cast molding and injection molding are known. In these molding methods, a molding material is heated to a temperature where certain fluidity can be obtained and casted or injected into a mold with a cavity of a desired shape to form a structure in the desired shape. The molding material comprises a thermoplastic resin as the primary component and further comprises, as necessary, other materials such as metals and ceramic besides the thermoplastic resin. For instance, to increase the mechanical strength of the structure, these molding materials are often prepared to include carbon fibers, powders of metal oxides, etc.
Examples of the method for molding a structure without the use of a mold include thermal spraying and three-dimensional (3D) printing (or additive manufacturing). For instance, in thermal spraying, a thermal spray material in a powder form comprising a resin material and a non-resinous material such as metals and ceramic is heated, and the softened or melted thermal spray material is sprayed and deposited on a substrate to form a structure formed of the thermal spray material. For instance, Patent Document 1 discloses that, to supplementally add a second feature, an elemental metal, a metal oxide powder, wear-resistant particles, etc., are further included in a thermal spray powder composition formed of two or more species of thermoplastic resin.